Wear and Tear of Pump Impeller Due to Sand-laden Flow and Its Improving Measures

There are a large number of pump stations used for irrigation along the valley of Yellow River with a common problem to be solved urgently. It is the destruction of pump impeller due to cavitation and wear characteristic of the sand laden water flow of Yellow River. By observing the characteristics of pump destruction for years, the mechanism and major influencing factors of the wear occured with the impeller of centrifugal pumps are analysed with solid liquid two phase theory, and several wear resisting or wear reducing measures, such as improved design of impeller parameters and adoption of blades of welded impeller with pressed plate, are put forward. It has been found that after practical operation with such impeller, the service life of the impeller can be doubled and the average operation efficiency is improved with remarkable economic benefit and the value for application.